# Re-Staining a Bowl



## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Hi Folks,

I got an estate pipe in the mail two days ago, and after cleaning the outside of the bowl I noticed that when viewed in anything but poor light, a lot of the finish is fading. It looks to have originally been a red mahogany finish which appears mosly dark due to it being a sandblast, with a few flecks of red. However, after waxing/buffing it looked very flat and...purple over most of the pipe. Not sure why it looks purple.

So yesterday I set out staining it, just doing a 15 minute application of brown Minwax Wood Finish every couple of hours in between family happenings. I chose brown because I don't care for the way the red mahogany finish matches with the top of the bowl, which is a contrast stain. I wiped off the wax with rubbing alcohol before beginning.

So after 4 or so applications, it looked pretty good. The finish looked darker and richer. But then I waxed it, and after doing so I noticed that it was looking flat again. And purple. Slightly less so, but still looking bad.

So why is the stain not taking? Any tips? I think the seller on ebay may have put some sort of cover up on it which came off in waxing. After staining I let it set overnight before attempting to wax.

I am thinking of getting a black stain, because I think that would look a lot better with the contrast top. Would that take better, being as it is a stronger color?

The culprit:


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

The old finish is probably sealed with shelac which is preventing your new stain from penetrating the wood. You should strip it and start from scratch IMO. I hear acetone works for that but I don't know for sure. I had a Stanwell with a crazed finish that I tried multiple times to remove by scrubbing with various removers. Finally I got fed up and soaked it in a jar of laquer thinner. After about three days it finally loosened the finish up enough I was able to scrape most of it off then rubbed the remainder of it off.

I should add that wood stain isn't ideal for pipes. It fades or doesn't hold up to heat or something. I don't exactly remember. I think most pipe makers use leather dye. Boot/shoe dye would probably work.


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## stoked (Nov 30, 2009)

New stain won't take over carnuba wax either (common pipe finish). If you have bare spots you can use touch up markers for wood sold in hardware stores.

As for shine - it comes from high speed polish of carnuba wax with a buffer wheel or a dremel with the same. You Won't get a high polish from beeswax or parafin wax compared to carnuba. Some guys like just an oil finish - but again not shiny. You can use laquer or shellac but the briar can't breathe properly IMHO so you're better off to use what you have and not achieve high shine. You could take it to a tobacconist and have them buff it up for you at very little cost - somtimes free.

As for colour - you could always sand off the wax with 600 or 400 grit and touch up or compliment the stain colour. Or sand down to bare wood (you will lose some detail on the texture) and restain with an *alcohol based* stain of your choice. Then rewax it and buff it.

You can also send it out for as little as $15-25 for restoration.

Good luck


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Well I can't really sand it off, seeing as it's rusticated, so I will try some nail polish remover (contains acetone) and try that first. 

I was using Halcyon II wax, I wasn't going for a high shine like carnauba, mainly just trying to protect the wood and maintain that natural, dull shine it has.

Thanks for the advice guys. If I can't get it I will just send to one of these pipe repair shops with my meer that needs opening up.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Andrew,

If you are interested in pipe making in all its aspects (including pipe repair, restaining, etc.) this site has a ton of info.

Pipe Makers' Forum - the only forum site for pipe makers on the web


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

After looking at the photo again it looks like the finish might have been ruined from smoking too hot. You might be able to strip it with a wire brush, by hand or in a drill. That's what I did with my Stanny which was also a sandblast.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Mad Hatter said:


> After looking at the photo again it looks like the finish might have been ruined from smoking too hot. You might be able to strip it with a wire brush, by hand or in a drill. That's what I did with my Stanny which was also a sandblast.


I will try that if the nail polish remover does not work. Won't that leave light scratches in the briar, though? I ask because I don't have a buffing wheel. I suppose it could leave an interesting visual effect on the wood.

You can't see it in the picture, but the spots that are "purpled" correspond to where the fingers/hand of a previous owner would touch the pipe while holding it in the right hand.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Wire brush was taking too long, so I went to the basement to try and find brush with a drill attachment, but instead noticed a wad of steel wool, and tried that. Worked pretty well, took the stain off the higher areas and left a bit of the darkness below, which was fine with me. It seems to have taken the first stain very well. Thanks mad hatter.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

I feel like an idiot posting three times in a row, but for some reason the 'edit post' feature seems to have disappeared.

Anyway, just wanted to add that I completely forgot about trying the leather dye, and am still using the minwax. Since this is shaping to be a bit of a 'knockaround' pipe I will see where it takes me. I did some reading on that pipemaking forum and am picking up some good tips.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Glad you found something that worked Andrew. That pipe makers forum could have saved me a lot of trial and error a year ago. Really good info there.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Well I called up a shoe repair store that is near my work, and I think I will "do it right the first time" by staining over the minwax with a healthy dose of leather dye. Here's why:

I find with the minwax, if you want a dark stain you would probably have to do at least a half dozen applications (which is a lot of drying time in between). It does a good job of bringing out the grain (which on this pipe is not all that great besides the striking cross grain on the rim), but I take away from this that it is not ideal when you are going for that deep, dark stain that is found on many rusticated pipes.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Well, I stained it, and it is a disappointment. The blast lost some of its texture in the steel wool phase, so overall the pipe looks sort of dull.

I am going to smoke it for a week or two and see if it's worth saving. Assuming so, I will either:

(a) Sand it smooth and give it a nice dark brown stain. Problem is once you've seen the grain you realize why it was blasted.

(b) Rusticate it with my dremel. This could either end very well, or very poorly. I'm kind of leaning toward this option.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

What make is it?


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Svendborg, bought from ebay.

Pretty sure it's from the 80s or 90s, and it's definitely a serial pipe not one of their high-grades.

Edit to add: Judging from the drilling and dry puff, it's going to be a great smoker, which is why I'm going through the effort (well that and it's a great way to pass the time).


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Well, I guess I might as well turn this into a blog-type post detailing my finishing of this pipe. Here is my tentative plan for the rustication:

First I will take sandpaper and smooth out the pipe, paying particular attention to the area just below the rim, and the end of the shank, both of which will remain smooth. I will also gently top the bowl so that it may be restained as well. A few mm below the rim I will fasten a hose clamp and run a reference line around it with a small drill bit, for lack of a better term. Above this gutterline will be smooth. I am actually not sure now that I think about it if I want to do a defined line or fade into smooth.

On to the rustication. I will take a larger drill bit (thinking 1/8-3/16) and put an array of very gentle and overlapping divots all over the pipe, fading into a smooth section on the shank. Then I will take an extremely small drill bit, and gently texture the surface by gently pressing the bit sideways or sweeping the tip against the already divoted surface to give it a grain-like texture. I will try to pattern the sweeps so that it has a wave-like or wind-swept look about it.

I have no idea how this will turn out, but I have nothing to lose. The pipe has a good amount of meat to it, so I am not worried about thinning the walls too much.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Are you sure your sanding with steel wool actually removed the character of the blast rather than compacted and smoothed the waste into the finer recesses? Just a thought


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Pretty sure - the pipe has lost all of that "pebbliness" and has a more smooth appearance vaguely like the way sand textures on the ocean floor (but not really in a good way). I will double check when I get home though.

The best way to describe it is to look at a sandblast that has been used for years, you will see the pattern become smoother and more subdued on the areas where it is held. It looks like that, except on the whole pipe.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

I was curious since the wool isn't that course. I wire brushed that Stanny of mine with no ill effects, no marks. That's SOP on a rustication to remove loose bits of wood before staining. I know what you mean by the smoothing of the sandblast. I like that on my estate pipes but lately I can't help but wonder how much of it is...................... noseoil :yuck:uke:


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

I try to repress the thoughts of where my estate pipes have been, or at least drown them in pools of alcohol and bleach.

And yes, surprising the wool did that much. I guess I did use a fair amount of force in doing it, or maybe the wood was softened a bit from wipes with alcohol/minwax.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Finally smoked this pipe last night, and besides the top of the bowl getting very hot, it smoked like a dream, and dry as a bone, too. It is definitely not a flake pipe though.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Well, when I originally did this, the pipe wound up looking more or less like this, and although this is a bad pic, you can see it looks kind of crappy and the sandblast is all worn down, and the black doesn't really match well with the rim.










Sooooooo, today I felt a little inspired by a pipe I just bought which is rusticated, and I broke out the dremel to see what happened. I used the corner of a cutting bit that came with it, a coral sponge type of bit to deburr, a small steel wire brush, the flannel buffing bit w/red compound, Dark Brown Fiebing's leather dye for a simple stain, then wax, and all in all I think it came out OK, I like the way it looks a lot more now (smokes great too). Oh and I sanded the top of the bowl flat, the bulbous rim made it look a little too porky IMO.














































For some reason those pictures make it look like a more reddish-burgundy type stain, looks plain brown in real life. Time to go load it up!


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Wow Andrew! Really nice for your first attempt.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Thanks John! It came out well enough that I'm not kicking myself for trying, and I guess that's what I was hoping for. :lol:

At least now I can smoke it in public and not feel like a derelict!


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## Verschnupft (Jun 15, 2009)

Quick note, Minwax is a penetrating stain and like any other brand of this type of stain has trouble with higher density woods. Working at a paint store we run into this problem a lot when people use a generic stain on some of the exotic woods that are being used more often these days for decking. Now whether or not briar is dense enough to cause this or it was the wax used on it before I can't say.

Anyway, the pipe looks great now, great work.


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## Arctic Fire (Jan 17, 2010)

great job. Looks like a completely different pipe.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

The leather dye that I used (Fiebing's) was great to work with, I read about it at the pipe making forum that indigosmoke linked earlier. It is alcohol based, so you can cut it with rubbing alcohol to get a lighter stain, and it dries extremely quickly. It also comes in a wide variety of colors, I found it at a shoe repair shop that had a nice stock of products, but only a few of the colors (I bought Dark Brown and Black). What I could have done is lightly sand the surface to removed some stained wood from the 'ridges,' and then go back and do a lighter restain, so that the surface has a more dynamic look. But I'm happy with it now and don't want to mess it up.


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